Racial Discrimination In The 1800's

Improved Essays
The arise of racial discrimination since the 1800’s has been a prominent and serious subject in societies throughout the world causing public unrest and violence. There have been marches, protests, charity events, gatherings, and many more attempts to try and abolish racism, but racism is not an obstacle that can just be completed with and forgotten. Racism is a disease that is spread rapidly and is impossible to erase entirely. Many individuals believe that racism is a choice people make, but in reality it is the influences surrounding those people as they are being raised. Many children have the same beliefs as their parents about racism because they feel as if their parents opinions aren’t opinions, they feel as if they are …show more content…
We’re telling them it’s okay to show bias to someone who does not perform their roles in society the way we deem appropriate. We’re teaching them to stereotype groups and leading them down the road of prejudice even though we think we’re just protecting them. (qtd. in Slaughter, “5 Ways Parents” n. pag.)
Some parents make the slightest remarks that can lead their kids into having a prejudice mindset, and they do not even realize they are doing so. There are some parents who assure they, themselves, do not expose their kids to racism and even teach them the opposite of prejudice, but sometimes that is not even
…show more content…
Kids are always going to be exposed to racism no matter how their parents raised them because, “It is impossible for anyone to have been brought up in the United States without having been influenced by racist attitudes and practices. Parents should not blame themselves but rather accept that fact’’ (qtd. in Alvy, “Teaching Tolerance” n. pag.). Parents have to further their actions and realize even if they are not teaching their kids prejudice thoughts, that their kids are going to hear them at school, from friends, teachers, the news, books, and almost everywhere their kids go. The lynchings in Duluth are just one local example of how kids could be exposed to racism. The lynchings in Duluth was an unfair trial of 3 innocent black men in the 1920’s, with an end result of 3 black men being lynched. After the 3 men were dead, “a mob estimated at 5,000 to 10,000”, crowded around the lamppost the men were hung at, and the ones who were close enough smiled (“Duluth’s Shameful Past” n. pag.). The men were not smiling just to smile, or just because they were happy the 3 men were dead; they were all smiling at a camera. That picture taken with the mob posing with the 3 dead black men, was later sold as a souvenir postcard. Kids exposed to this postcard would automatically assume the blacks did something wrong because

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Racism is something that many people deals with on a daily basis, not only today but also for over hundreds of years ago. In the 60s in the US, there was a Civil Rights movement where people fought for equal rights between the races, especially the black people’s rights. The Civil Rights Act movement changed the US in several essential areas. Decisive laws were established and the power…

    • 956 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Atticus Finch Quotes

    • 1234 Words
    • 5 Pages

    What were your top five quotes from the novel and why? In chapter 3 of To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus Finch give Jem and Scout some very compelling advice. He explains to the two that you couldn’t ever understand someone until you’ve seen it from their point of view. The way he tell the kids is very honest and meaningful.…

    • 1234 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Everyday when a kid walk down the hall their peers are judging them. Before a student does any work for class the teacher already has a prejudice against them because of societal stereotypes that have been imprinted on us. It is not to say that there aren’t exceptions to this claim but, there have been plenty of stories that have experienced it firsthand or witnessed it. Racism is prevalent in schools and therefore, it is prevalent in our every aspect of our lives. People can say they are colorblind but, being colorblind doesn’t help against the problem of racism.…

    • 741 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Entry 1 I am nervous and excited for this class. I want to know and understand the systemic oppression people of color face, but I am afraid, and embarrassed, that I know so little in the first place. The only background I have for this course is that I live in America and I read The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander. She argues mass incarceration is the new Jim Crow. Alexander’s book was so shocking to me that I just wanted to know more, like what the social implication are of this type of oppression.…

    • 1715 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I never really thought too much about racism when growing up. Maybe that is due to my upbringing. I was raised in a small diverse country town where, for the most part, everyone got along. Not to say that there was no racism; it just was not seen very often. Some would call me lucky to have been so naïve in my microcosm.…

    • 766 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When considering the factors affecting a child’s socialization, bias and stereotyping are factors that mostly are overlooked but still exist. I come from a minority cultural and ethnic group in the multicultural America. I am a South Asian Muslim and personally, I feel my children are always trying to “fit-in” among their friends at school. For example, my younger child never knew that he is “brown” until he was called brown by kids in kindergarten at school. Before he started pre-school, he was never exposed to racism or differences in skin color and he was more socially active whenever we went out.…

    • 347 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Reeve's Ideas

    • 338 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Reeve’s suggestions for teaching children about prejudice is mainly for the parents to educate their kids before their peer’s influence their behavior. Bergan states that “a child’s family is a motel that a child pattern their beliefs after.” Reeve’s explains that parents are responsible to teach their children about prejudice so that they are not easily influenced. If a child hears other kids talking mean about a person because of their religion or race, they can reflect back on what they have been taught from their parents.…

    • 338 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Assignment 4 Philip James SOC 100 The first document that I chose is titled “Sociology of Racism” written by Matthew Clair of Havard University and Jeffrey Denis of McMaster University. I wanted to use this paper because it discusses the origin of racism and how people come to possess it. According to Clair and Denis, racism roots from the thought that a certain group is superior to the other because small differences such as hair color, skin tone, and facial structure. Racism is very different from racial discrimination and inequality but really it is the root of difference from one group to another.…

    • 855 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Born Chinese Stereotypes

    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages

    American Born Chinese and stereotypes “Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.” I believe this quote by Margaret Mead is very accurate and is something that all parents, teachers and adults should think about. “A stereotype is used to categorize a group of people. People don 't understand that type of person, so they put them into classifications, thinking that everyone who is that needs to be like that, or anyone who acts like their classifications is one.”…

    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Racism and racial discrimination have a significant impact on the cognitive development and behaviour of young children. Racism is the belief when one race is superior or more valued than another race. Less valued races are disadvantaged in society as they have fewer opportunities than more privileged groups (Edwards, 2008). When exposed to racism, the cognitive development of a child is affected intellectually, socially and emotionally. These developmental issues are linked to behavioural problems in children, affecting them in childhood and through adolescence.…

    • 1990 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Janiyah Belfor Critical Analysis on “ Defining Racism: “Can We Talk” Beverly Daniels Tatum’s “Defining Racism: “ Can We Talk”, published in 2003, explains that racism and prejudice still exist in today’s world and are not just something of the past. Many people are left in the dark about the daily racist situations that occur in the world and covered by the media. From what I understood from the article it is everyone's job to get their own understanding on racism and what it is today. Tatum would like people to recognize that racism still exist and it should be stopped. While Tatum’s evidence is relevant and her tone is clear, she unfortunately included a logical fallacy.…

    • 834 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background or his religion. People learn to hate from young age , and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite” (Mandela). The act of racism and inequality within the school system can be dated back to 1896 with the Plessy V. Ferguson case, which resulted in “ separate facilities for education” and an “ equal education”(123helpme). The lack of cultural diversity and ignorance exist all around us within today's society.…

    • 727 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Durkheim And Racism

    • 1080 Words
    • 5 Pages

    A particular example of social fact is racism. Racism is described as the belief in racial differences, which can cause discriminatory acts – where a distinct biological group is described as inferior; the members of a particular race are commonly faced with derogatory racial based comments, stereotypes and non-equal treatment. One of the main causes of racism is an individuals surrounding factors during their years of development and education – the passing down from generation to generation. Humans are not born racist; racism is a characteristic that is learnt, becoming intrinsic to the individual. Just as Durkheim explains there are no psychological or biological factors associated with the racism, hatred and stereotyping that an individual encompasses, but it is established from an outside…

    • 1080 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    We use of stereotypes all the time without knowing it. Stereotypes are learned through direct observation from the culture around us and enter our consciousness. In our society talks out loud about egalitarianism, equality and justice as our own values, but at the same time such equality exists only as an ideal. There is still a great unconscious level of prejudice in our society that effect of racial, gender micro-aggression. The overtly biased expresses through our expressions, stance, verbal and nonverbal communication, and eye contact we make.…

    • 739 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout our history, racism has impacted the way we live as a society. Everyday people are involved in traumatizing events or issues that affect the way they live. These issues include: social, economic, and cultural prejudice, and stereotyping. Racial views are influenced by the environment around us. Parents influence their children to have the same beliefs as them.…

    • 1688 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays